A seventh match without victory in all competitions ends Pep Guardiola's title hopes for all but the most optimistic Blues and the manager left Anfield to a chorus telling him he'd be sacked in the morning and with no more answers to the many problems his team face.
It was startling for Guardiola to drop Ederson at fault for at least one of the goals against Feyenoord but also one of City's best players this season - but the decision started to make more and more sense as the game kicked off and the Blues were startlingly exposed.
In the opening 20 minutes, the post came to the rescue twice, Stefan Ortega made two excellent stops and they still found themselves 1-0 down.
From basically the first minute, City had Ruben Dias from a goal kick putting his foot on the ball and waiting for Liverpool to come to him.
This was exactly the thing that Guardiola had said earlier in the season his team wouldn't or couldn't do, because the expectation was that they would play.
The problem with that is that City looked uncomfortable doing something that is normally seen by their opponents at the Etihad and Liverpool in their form were only too happy to come.
The visitors were fortunate to still be in the game after a bewildering start that saw them unable to keep hold of the ball or the game, relieved only by Liverpool not making he most of the glaring chances they created.
This story is from the December 02, 2024 edition of Manchester Evening News.
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This story is from the December 02, 2024 edition of Manchester Evening News.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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